Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Malaysia Gemilang: University, A Fascist Place ?

The Regime of Fascism
Before the start, let us analyse the meaning of the word "Fascism". This is the description as provided by Wiktionary :
{Noun}
1) A political regime based on strong centralized government, suppressing through violence any criticism or opposition of the regime, and exalting nation, state, or religion above the individual.
2) A system of strong autocracy.

Such a negative word.....

Yee Yang Yang in UPM
Malaysiakini reported on the 16th and 17th on a student by the name of Yee Yang Yang, a student of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) but maybe not "Universiti Paling Menakutkan" having various personal possessions confiscated by campus security.

Via Malaysiakini, on the account of the confiscation:
According to Yee, the security guards were conducting a spot check on two rooms in his hostel with his room being one of them.

Yee was then subjected to a interrogation session where the security guards had allegedly demanded to know why he was involved in politics.

“I asked them: You (security guards) said earlier that you were looking for a stolen mobile phone, why are you asking me about politics?” said Yee when contacted.

Two attempts to lodge reports by Yee has been failed by the police due to assurance given by UTK to return the stated items. Another attempt is probably on the way.

Via Malaysiakini, some mind-boggling facts:
Yee belongs to the "anti-establishment" camp (Barisan Mahasiswa Bersatu) and the incident is suspected to be connected to impending campus elections .

Rival students groups - mostly between anti-establishment and pro-government factions - are already in the midst of campaign preparations as polls are widely tipped to be announced soon.

Last year, the anti-establishment group - who are generally regarded to be pro-opposition - has boycotted the students election, claiming that the rules are heavily stacked against them.

In recent years, student groups not aligned to the government-backed Aspirasi faction are often subjected to harassment from campus authorities.

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Other Incidents in UPM
As the fever of campus elections grows, Harakahdaily through Malaysia Today posted an article with supplemented photos.

Pictures:
1) Yellow paint poured over a student's motorcycle.
2) "Threat" Notice with splattered yellow paint : "Nak Sihat Jangan Bertanding" (Do not Contest if you want to stay "healthy") .

On top of that it seems that Mohd Taufiq Mahmud, Chairman of Barisan Mahasiswa Bersatu (BMB) and a colleague of Yee Yang Yang were facing problems days before the confiscation. His motorcycle was locked by the Headmaster and HEP officers.
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Conclusion
It is certainly weird that so many things can happen in a matter of a few weeks one can't help but wonder if there is any greater power in work. If there is, would it be appropriate for us to describe these actions in a single word : INTIMIDATION ?

If Malaysiakini had described correctly, government-backed factions are not harassed. That's ironic and mind-boggling.

The Yee Yang Yang incident reminds the public of a similar case in the form of the Nathaniel Tan arrest. Yee Yang Yang is not arrested but Nat had his items confiscated as well. Nat claimed that his belongings have not been returned to him in the article Me, Yee Yang Yang… Are you next? . Two months had passed.

A number of blogs on the net tried to put this incident on a racial fiasco : Malays on one side, chinese on the other. Such mentality is inaccurate. The chairman of Barisan Mahasiswa Bersatu is a Malay while Yee Yang Yang, a member, is a chinese. Both are from the same side. Malaysians need to think out-of-the-box !

All of a sudden, I feel a tingling sense of fear. However, my choice would be to persist in writing. The last I checked, Malaysia is supposed to be democratic. I cannot accept a fascist state.

6 comments:

Rauff said...

Outside intervention in varsity elections has always been a fixture. But which student who dares to give an expose? None...afraid that they will loose the opportunity to study. To me it is similar to blackmail by non other than the ruling parties which would just like to stay as they are sleeping comfortably in soft hide chairs in their tax payer's funded offices.

Anonymous said...

keep up your good work

Anonymous said...

good to know that you speak for all regardless of races or background

daffodils said...

Frankly I was very upset that this kind of thing was allowed to happen. My own daughter is in UKM. I am not sure whether it has happened there before. Of course we do not wish it to make it into a racial issue as you have said but the fact that they can set upon a defenceless student is scary. It amounts to intimidation. I was hoping that a higherup would resolve the issue before it turns ugly. I also hope that it would not jeopardise the student's chance of continuing with his studies. I applaud those students who stood bravely against the security personnel especially the girls. I am proud of them.

Anonymous said...

UPM is not a university it is Labour Camp with an administration modelled on Hitler's Nazi Party.
The UPM Security are akin to the Gestapo.
What a shit hole Malaysia is turning into!!!

piusheng said...

When I read what happened to Yee Yang Yang it didn't surprise me at all. This Bolehland is a fascist state long ago. It is a state with no law or law for some.

Yee is nothing to the fascist government. This fascist government has gotten away with even worse things... Tun Salleh Abbas, Sdr Anwar Ibrahim so what is Yee to them.

Love live our Bolehland.

P.S: You can vote all you want, it's no use. A box of postal vote will solve everything.